Part 1: Providing the Image Without Investing the Money

I buy expensive suits. They just look cheap on me. - Warren Buffett

Let's face it, you sometimes need to spend a little to get more.  That fact is, when you're trying to get that job or make that impression, or when your job requires it, you have to find the money to make yourself appear as you want or need to appear.  You need your appearance to fit your goals.  It might be your car, your watch, your house, or even your acquaintances that must change.

It goes without saying, but I'll mention that same old truth that we're all familiar with: your expenses scale with your income.

Somehow, we always find a way to spend whatever extra we get.  People have discussed this phenomenon with their friends, with their family, and with their lending institutions and nobody seems to be able to identify exactly what the reason is, aside from pointing out that our appetite for more is equal to some exponent of what we earn.  Ah, the American dream.

For me, after my promotion to management, I spent more on clothing, my car, and even on decorating my office to better reflect the position I came to occupy.  I began to adjust my personal view of myself based on what was expected for someone in my place.  I had to look like someone who would hold my position.

Imagine this scenario:

You are waiting to go to lunch with Joe, a representative from a company with whom you are considering doing business.  When Joe arrives at your facility, he comes in wearing casual attire, fit for a new grad kid working at one of those kick-back-not-serious-but-innovate places.  He shows you to his ride, a 1989 Ford Escort with a faded, and peeling, paint job, a few dents that represent a quarky history, lending to the car's own personal character.

When you get into the car, a pine-scented air freshener makes a poor attempt at masking the smell of old cheeseburger mixed with pizza.  Once in the car, you try to buckle, but the seat buckle is broken and has been since somewhere around 1995.  The car barely starts, and a pitiful squeal from a lose belt interrupts your stunned silence.

To your amazement, the car makes it to the restaurant chosen by Joe.  The restaurant, however, is a Del Taco.  He treats you to a taco, a soda, and some fries--because he had a coupon.

After the meeting is over, he drops you off at your office.  He spoke well enough, and he helped you understand his product, but you can't help but feel distracted by all the cheapness, am I right?

In the above scenario, our friend has gained a promotion that puts him in front of a prospective client.  He has chosen to maintain his lifestyle in an attempt to save as much money as possible.  Don't you respect him for that decision?  Or do you think that his naive attempt to cling to his cheap way of living is a poor fit for the expectations placed upon him now that he has risen to such a visible and influential position?  Aha, now you're conflicted, right?

I personally think that adjusting your appearance and portraying what is expected of you is imperative to added success.  However, you can get caught in a trap of ever-increasing responsibility and time commitments, with an increasing paycheck, with equally paced expenses, and never win the rat race.  The goal is to ascend beyond the equalized revenue-to-expense conundrum.

Back when I was working my way up, my boss and mentor, told me that I ought to take every raise I received and just have it automatically deposited into my 401k account.  This way, since I was already acclimated to living according to my old salary, I'd be able to maintain my standard of living while saving for a fat retirement.  This made a lot of sense, and I've been contributing a lot to my retirement based on that advice, but I certainly haven't sent everything there--for many reasons.  I'm also guilty of scaling my life up as well.

That was good advice for raises, but it's harder to implement when you're going for a promotion or you've been promoted, or you're trying to sell your product, or impress a client.  At this stage, you have to roll back on the saving throttle a bit and spend your money.  It's challenging to think like this and not lose control.  However, in the coming days, I'll share in the follow up installments to this article, how to get that edge and elevate the perception that others have of you--without breaking the bank.

Ask the readers: How do you avoid the dented Ford Escort while still building the kind of wealth you ought to be building with increased income?

Be sure to read Part 2 of Providing the Image Without Investing the Money.